Ski boot fitting device



Feb. 11, 1958 E. LUNDBERG SKI BOOT FITTING DEVICE Filed March 13. 1956INVENTOR E.LUNDBEBG ATTORNEY .Au A in United States PatentO ice SKI BOOTFITTING DEVICE Eric Lundberg, Aspen, Colo.

Application March 13, 1956, Serial No. 571,284

5 Claims. (Cl. 33-3) This invention relates to sports including thosetaking place out of doors and specifically to skiing whether in winteror summer and to equipment utilized when participating in this and othersports. More particularly, the invention relates to the proper fittingof certain equipment, namely, ski boots which are considered the mostimportant equipment of the skier, it being recognized that'it is mostessential that the ski boot fit extremely snug around the heel and overthe instep for proper control in skiing.

In order for a ski boot to fit properly, it is important that there bepractically no movement of the heel of the foot or lost motion withinthe boot, where the latter is subjected to strain during skiing and suchstrain resulting from the ski boot being held firmly in place by a skibinding during the time the weight of the skiers body is leaning forwardin the usual skiing position and which exerts considerable forwardpressure of the feet and particularly instep against the confiningportion of the boot.

In fitting a ski boot, it is difiicult to determine whether the fit ofthe boot is correct at the most important location, namely, where therewould be any appreciable lifting of the heel of the foot within the bootunder the strain of normal skiing due to the fact that there is no wayto secure the boot in a fixed immovable position as in a ski binding,and it is necessary that the boots be secured in fixed position so thatthe wearer may lean his body forward as in skiing to exert an upwardpressure of the heels and insteps of the feet against the boots so thatit may be readily determined whether the heels move upwardly inside theboots when they are actually being used in skiing.

It is an object of the invention to provide a ski boot fitting device bymeans of which ski boots of all sizes on the feet may be quickly securedin fixed position and rapidly released therefrom in order to facilitatedetermining the proper fit of the boots under skiing conditions.

Another object of the invention is to provide ski boot fitting means ofsimple and inexpensive construction, which can be easily incorporated ina relatively small easily movable unit, as well as a unit which can beused for determining the fit of ski boots regardless of size.

- Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a ski boot fitting device in accordance withthe present invention;

Fig. 2, a side elevation;

Fig. 3, a fragmentary rear elevation;

Fig. 4, a fragmentary perspective of a modified form;

Fig. 5, a section on the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Figs. 6 and 7, transverse and longitudinal sections, respectively, ofselectively usable rack and pinion, and worm and gear mechanisms forproviding the desired adjustment of stops for preventing forwardmovement of the toes of the boots;

Fig. 8, a fragmentary detailed perspective of a modified form of heelholder; and

Z,8Z2,6 l 3 Patented 1 1, I

. Fig. 9, a section on a line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Briefly stated, the ski boot fitting device of the present inventioncomprises heel holders or clamps for retaining the heels of the boots infixed position, and cooperating stops for preventing forward movement ofthe toes of skiing boo-ts so that when the boots are thus relativelyimmobilized the wearer csan lean forward as far as is desired in orderto exert the desired upward pressure to the heels and insteps of thefeet against the upper interior portion of the boots to determine theamount of movement and lost motion of the heels of thefeet within theboots and to a degree of accuracy that is not possible without securingthe boots in place. The invention further contemplates a base, portableor otherwise, to which heel holders and adjustable toe stops areattached.

With continued reference to the drawing in accordance with the presentinvention, a base 10 is provided which, for portability, may beapproximately 14" in width and 24 in length, and of sufiicient thicknessto afford a rela tively solid platform on one end of which the heels ofthe user are adapted to be disposedso that the toes extend toward theopposite end of the board.

Along one end of the board are mounted one or more boot heel holders orclamps 11, two being shown, which resemble substantially U-shapedpivoted drawer handles having outwardly turned extremities 12.forming'pivots or journals in brackets 13 so that such heel holdersmay bedisposed in substantially horizontal position flat against the uppersurface of the base 10 or they may be swung to upright position as inFigs. 2 and 3 to receive theheel of ski boots, one beneath each ofthesame, the heels of such boots being of substantially uniform thicknessregardless of size. The heel holder loops. 11 are. approximately 4 inlength and of a size to overlie aheel approximately 1 /2" in height.They also preferably are formed of relatively heavy metal rod stock andheld. by relatively heavy brackets 13in ordento Withstand the force towhich they are subjected in use. p p V The heel holder loops maybeangular or of other. desired shape to fit on top of the rear oftheyheel. off the ski boots and are capable of being swung in placeandhave minimum engagement with the boots. to pre ven t marring the leatherby avoiding contact with the sides. of the heels. v

In order to prevent ski boots from slidingor slipping forward frombeneath the heel .holders,,the toe stops include relatively flatplates14 having upright toe engaging stops or projections 15.? Eachplate lfl'is disposed adjacent a cooperative heel holder so that thedevice can be used for ski boots of any size. Each .plate 14 isrelatively thin and may be approximately 7 wide and 8' '.long with theupright flanges 15 atthe forward end approximately lf in height. Theplates 14 are provided adjacent their lateral edges with slots 16 and 17in which are received bolts 18 or other threaded fasteners havingwingnuts 19 on their upper ends by whichtheplatesilfl may be secured to. thebase 10,.theslots ligand 17fperrnitting longitudinal adjustment of suchplates with'tlieupriglit toe stops 15. Since the slots 16 and 17 arelocated near the side edges of the plate 14, they afford a placetherebetween on which the ski boots can be placed without interference.

In Fig. 2 a ski boot 20 is shown in phantom and has a heel 21 with ashoulder 22 over which the heel holders 11 can be disposed. When it isdesired to fit a ski boot, the wearer of the ski boot slides the samebackward to hook the heel under the heel holder loop or clamp 11. Theplate 14 is then slipped rearwardly until the upright stop portion 15 isdisposed in front of and in contact with the toe of the ski boot, afterwhich the wingnut 19 at each side of the plate 14 is tightened to securethe plate 14 in fixed position. Thereafter, the boots being relativelyimmobilized, the wearer can lean forward as far as he wishes to exertthe desired upward pressure of the feet against the upper inner portionof the boots to determine the amount of heel lift within the. boot todetermine the fit of the boot with accuracy not heretofore obtained. InFigs. 4 and 5 are illustrated one of the many possible modifications ofthe invention. In this embodiment heel holders 23 are employed which mayinclude a hollow rectangular member of heavy wire or rod stock, suchmember being of a length so that when pivotally secured or fastened inposition at one side, it can be swung over the heel as in the embodimentpreviously described.

Mounting the heel holder member 23 is an encircling hinge or pivotportion 24 of a channel member 25 having attaching side portions 26 and27 adapted to be fastened by screw 28 to a suitable base such as thebase 10 previously described.

The side members are olfset from the body of the plate sufiiciently toreceive beneath said body a plate 29 having an upright forward portionforming a toe stop 30. The plate 29 is slideable beneath the channelmember and is adapted to be secured in adjusted position by means of alocking bolt 31 adapted to engage a series of openings 32 in the base.

In the use of this device the plate 29 is disposed in a forward orextended position and the wearer stands on the channel member and slidesthe heel of the ski boot rearwardly beneath the raised heel holderdisposed in uppermost position. Thereafter the plate 29 is movedrearwardly until its upright forward portion engages the toe of the skiboot, whereupon the locking bolt 31 may be inserted in one of theopenings in the base.

If desired, relative movement between the base 10 and the toe stops canbe accomplished in other ways, for example, by an operating knob 33attached to a shaft 34 carrying a pinion 35 for engaging a rack 36disposed longitudinally along the underside of the toe stops 14 or 25.

If desired, as another illustration of toe stop adjusting device, theshaft 34 may be disposed longitudinally of the toe stop and may havefixed thereto a worm 37 which engages gear teeth 38 or gear teeth on theunderside of the toe stop.

The brackets 13 may be attached to the base 10 in any desired manner, asfor example, by bolts and nuts 13', which bolts are located in openings39 through the base 10 and with the nuts in the recesses 39 on theunderside of the plate.

Instead of the heel holder previously described, which is movablerelative to the base on which it is mounted, a heel holder 40 may beemployed of L-shaped construction, having a curved overhang 41 adaptedto engage the upper surface of the heel 22 similar to the heel holder11. The heel holder 40 may be held in fixed position in any desiredmanner as for example by means of bolts 42 extending through openings 43in the body 40 and nuts 44 located in recesses 45 on the underside ofthe base 10.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isillustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but onlyas indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A ski boot fitting device comprising a base plate on which a ski bootis adapted to be supported while worn on a foot, a rigid U-shaped bailadapted to engage the upper surface of the rearwardly projecting portionof the heel of a ski boot, means to pivot the free end of each leg ofthe U-shaped bail to said base plate substantially at the surface of thebase plate, the space between the legs of the U-shaped bail beinggreater than the width of any heel on boots to be fitted, the legs ofthe bail being relatively short with respect to the height of the heelof the boot while being of sufiicient length whereby the bight portionof the U-shaped bail may engage the upper surface of the rearwardlyprojecting, portion of the heel of any of the boots to be fitted, a boottoe engaging stop adjustably mounted on said base for movement to wardand away from the heel receiving bail whereby the boot to .be fitted maybe secured to the foot of a person with the bail engaging the uppersurface of the back of the heel with the plane of the rigid U-shapedbail being obtuse with relation to the bottom of the forwardly extendingportion of the boot, whereby when the toe engaging stop is adjusted toengage the toe of the boot with the bight portion of the U-shaped heelengaging bail in intimate contact with the upper surface of the back ofthe heel, the boot will be firmly retained with the heel closelyadjacent the base plate so that the person being fitted may flex theankle and observe the reaction of the foot within the boot.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which worm and gear means areprovided for obtaining adjustment of the toe stop.

3. The invention according to claim .1 in which rack and pinion meansare provided for adjusting the toe stop.

4. The invention according to claim 1 in which the toe stop isadjustable by means of a movable pin on the toe stop engageable with aplurality of spaced apertures in the base plate.

5. The invention according to claim 1 which the toe stop is adjustableby means of slots on the toe stop and studs having thumb screwsprojecting upwardly from the base plate through said slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ,IFEFTt

